RR 477: Danny Sanchez – It is Not Rocket Science to Run a Successful Shop

RR 477: Danny Sanchez – It is Not Rocket Science to Run a Successful Shop

Danny Sanchez, CEO of Autoshop Solutions, likes to keep it simple and direct. Having been a successful shop owner Danny is able to share his past experience as it relates to the challenges of the day. He sees your success as the totality of the shop from the ground up! He shares some key insights that will apply to any shop or organization. We continue to build on the trending talking points that my guests say are the fundamental building blocks of a successful shop today.

Some of the things we talk about are Building a culture, investing in people, using time efficiently and having better customer service. These are the key ingredients of becoming a successful owner!

Danny warns that every time you start something new there is a heavy investment of time, time is a commodity in shorter demand than money. Spend it wisely

THA 137: The Language of Welcome

THA 137 The Language of Welcome

We are talking about communicating and building relationships with a diverse and changing customer demographic.

Now enjoy a fresh dialogue with Bill Nalu from Interstate Auto Care Madison Heights, MI, we actually broadcast live from Bill’s shop, also Frank Leutz Desert Car Care, Chandler, AZ and Wrench Nation and Brian Glowski, South Street Auto Care, Rochester, MI

Our topic is ‘The Language of Welcome. We are talking about communicating and building relationships with a diverse and changing customer demographic. The panel has experience in serving many different cultures and offer ideas on the language and customs gap, having patience and taboo’s you need to learn and understand.

You can find the talking points, for this episode and my guests bio’s and links to their previous episodes at remarkableresults.biz/a137

RR 457: Justin Allen – Working Too Hard? Feel Burned Out?

RR 457: Justin Allen – We are working too hard. Do you feel burned out?

Justin Allen is a sales specialist with Hunter Engineering. His observation: We are working too hard. Do you feel burned out? Listen to Justin tell it like sees it. Justin supports the service professional in his role with Hunter. He’s got a keen eye on our opportunities and challenges and points out some critical needs we have. He is even an advocate of a 4 day work week.

Have you focused on your techs burn out and the quality of their family life? His responsibilities with Hunter give him a 360-degree view of the business side of the aftermarket and the rigorous efforts it takes to run a successful shop.

THA 130: Service Advisor Role Play #3

THA 130 Service Advisor Role Play

My guests are role-playing these three situations: #1: Brakes- the client knows what is wrong and the car has been inspected somewhere else, $2: Oil change- just looking for a price and #3: The Check Engine Light is on – how much to replace the catalytic converter?

My panel includes Rena Rennebohm CEO of Empowered Advisor, Dave Nelson From Antero’s Automotive, Greenwood Village, Colorado and RJ Milnes from DK Automotive Repair, Antioch, CA
Let features and benefits be the service advisors strong tools and during a call, you are interviewing the customer and they are interviewing you, both looking for a good fit. If cheep is what they want and you can’t deliver you’ve learned.

FTR 056: Justin Barrett – Hard Talk on Areas of Improvement for Independents

Justin Barrett – Hard Talk on Areas of Improvement for Independents

Justin Barrett, owner and operator of Barrett Automotive, Cornelia, GA sees areas that need improvement for independent service operators.

Justin Barrett will hit a few nerves as he asks you to take a look at your facility through the lens of the customer. And if you are not requiring 80 hours of training for your people, according to Justin, you are not keeping pace. He’ll also tell you why and how he closes and takes his team to train at venues like Vision in Kansas City.

THA 129: Customer Financing Options

THA 129 Customer Financing Options

What options do you have to help your customers with credit choices. There are many vendor credit options to choose from and they are great. Maybe you don’t use them, maybe you should. No one wants a customer to walk out on a major purchase especially safety related. This session is here to help you capture more of the big-ticket jobs.
You just may hear a financing option idea or two that you’ve never considered. And that is exactly what we do here, push the envelope on strategies and ideas to help you grow as a leader and build your business.

Hear about the acceptance rate of vendor finance programs and a few creative ideas on how to lock in customers with a pre-payment plan. Ever do a comparison of buying new or used vs fixing the vehicle that needs all the work? Have you ever heard of the M & D loan? You are about to.

RR 447: Jonnie Wright – Customer Service: What Are The Three Things You Want To Get Better At?

Jonnie Wright – Customer Service: What Are The Three Things You Want To Get Better At

Keeping customers satisfied is what most businesses strive for and it is what keeps them coming back.

Listen to the story of customer service from Jonnie Wright. Jonnie owns The Buyosphere. Jonnie and I get into a very deep conversation on customer service, generations, the future of phone skills, secret shopping, and reviews. Later in the episode, you will learn that the most important customer becomes the one you w

THA 126: Firing Customers – When is it Right or Wrong?

Bottom line is firing customers is rare, however, it happens and should be for the right reasons.

With me is Joe Hanson, Gordie’s Garage, Roseville, Michigan, Jerry Kezhyaya, The Auto Shop, Plano, TX, and Doug Callaghan, Vic’s Service, Wainright, Alberta, CA

OK, you may not have ever fired a customer or you may have done it just last week. It isn’t a task you do often, however, the job of firing a customer comes with some caveats. Joe, Jerry, and Doug share with you why they would do it and suggest that you do a deep dive inside your business to see if YOU aren’t the problem.

THA 125: Client Loyalty Programs – Do They Work?

Client Loyalty Programs – Do They Work?

We’re going to serve up a strong discussion building client loyalty through loyalty programs. My guests are lo Brian Bates, Eagle Automotive, Columbine Hills, CO, Vinnie Lucio, Co-Auto – Community Conscious Car Care, Reno, NV, and Jeff Rudnick, Pit Crew Marketing.

You’ll hear a wide-open discussion. Vinnie doesn’t have a specific loyalty card but has programs, Brian does have a loyalty card and Jeff brings his insights from a loyalty card company.

A big take-a-way for you is this: A loyalty program will not fix broken systems, processes and a weak selling system and look for every competitive edge to build a relationship with your client.

RR 443: Jill Trotta – Survey Results – The Best and Worst Metro Cities for Car Repair

Jill Trotta Best and Worst Metro Cities for Car Repair Survey

My guest is Jill Trotta. She is the Vice President for Industry Advocacy and Sales at RepairPal. We talked about the surveys that pointed out which metro cities are best for car repair. This is based on factors like average repair order, road quality, average labor rate among others.

The survey talked about the statistics and information about car repair. You will learn the best and the worst cities for repairs according to the survey. The survey also pointed out which cities are most affected by the technician shortage.

THA 111: Building New Customers

Building New Customers

David Roman from Done with Care – Auto Repair from Merium, KS and Greg Bunch from Aspen Auto Clinic from Colorado Springs and also the founder of Transformers Institute bring their A game to this discussion.

We covered a wide spectrum of strategies on customer growth and trust. We enveloped the marketing side of finding new customers and then how to complete the relationship once your service writer brought them from the phone call and into the shop.

David says that a big deception in opening a business; you think you are going to do what you are good at doing, however, you must be good at marketing; to make the phone ring. The CEO must make the phone ring or you’re going to have to spend money to hire a professional to do it.

Greg says that we must educate new clients on who we are, what we do, and why we do it. Greg wants you to Invite your new customer to talk to the tech and walk them through the findings of the inspections. He says that your customer struggles to find a trustworthy mechanic, so if you want to build a long term customer; earn their trust.

THA 110: Charging What We Are Worth

Charging What We Are Worth

We talk professional courtesy, labor rates, training, having the right value proposition for your customer so you can charge accordingly, the labor rate spread in our communities, and why you shouldn’t be afraid to charge what you are worth. You’ve invested a lot in your business and need to be paid for this. Listen to why confidence in your skills and abilities will help you charge accordingly.

With me on this Academy panel is Tom Palermo, Preferred Automotive Specialties, Philadelphia, PA and former NAPA ASE Technician of the year in 2015, David Justice, President Repair Shop Of Tomorrow, Asset Management Technology and Mark Colaw, Seymours’ Garage, San Antonio, TX and founder of Carfest.

RR 413: Jill Trotta on Pricing Transparency

Understanding Consumer Behaviour through Price Transparency

Jill Trotta Vice President, Industry Advocacy and Sales RepairPal, discusses pricing transparency and reiterates the fact that it is not going away. Every shop owner should understand this and never let this disable them in any way. If you happen to have a friend who is struggling with pricing, let them listen to this episode and it may be worthwhile for them to best understand how it works and what it means to your operation.

Jill says that millions of people visit the RepairPal site each month and the data they collect helps them understand how to make pricing transparency work for you. She also offers some survey results that, are frankly, disturbing as it relates to satisfied customers.

THA 107: Discover How To Keep Your Women Customers For Life

Discover How To Keep Your Women Customers For Life

We heard the stats that the female makes up over 50% of your customer base. That is based on certain geographies and demographics. Some are higher, some are lower. But no matter your mix you’ve got to have important tactics in place in order to create loyalty in your women customer.

We’re going to serve up a strong discussion building loyalty from your women customers. My panel includes Kim Auernheimer, Co-Owner of CS Automotive, Brentwood TN, Kathleen Jarosik, Xpertech Auto Repair, Englewood, FL, and Jonathan Ortiz, Foreign Affairs Auto, West Palm Beach, FL.

They bring their A game and serve up the important issues, from their perspective, that will help you create the right environment so you can have a long and lasting relationship with all your women customers. We talk about trust, safety, relationship, environment, and amenities among many others.

THA 106: Managing a Negative Online Review

Managing a Negative Online Review

The Academy panel will go over a 5 step process and go above and beyond by sharing their personal experiences.

So you got a “NEGATIVE” Review now what? Here is a 5 step process we are going to discuss: 1/ Two negatives don’t make a positive, 2. Find out what the heck really happened, 3. Take advantage of the learning opportunity, 4. Finalize a resolution, respond and over deliver, and 5. Review with staff and MOVE ON!

The Academy panel will go over this 5 step process and go above and beyond by sharing their personal experiences. Besides digging into these five steps we get into soliciting reviews, the four types of reviews, and sometimes a negative review can be an advertisement for your shop based on how you handle it and so much more

THA 105: Catering to the Millennial Customer

Catering to the Millennial Customer

We are talking with three millennial aftermarket successors, they are each involved in the family service business. The panel: Lauren Anderson, Victory Auto Service & Glass Minneapolis, MN, Jacquie Hower, from Zimmerman’s Automotive, Mechanicsburg, PA and Carley Paiva, Elite Auto Repair in Warwick, RI

The ladies talk social media, transparency, that millennials have no patience, ‘they should know’, their view on video marketing, and where Instagram fits among other topics.

RR 403: Lucas Underwood – Take Ownership and Learn from your Mistakes. Find Humility.

Lucas Underwood – Take Ownership and Learn from your Mistakes. Find Humility.

There are a lot of responsibilities being a business owner. You have to re-think or get advice if your policies or strategies are not working. This episode does open the discussion on self-improvement and learning from your mistakes.

Lucas Underwood is an Automotive diagnostic specialist and shop owner. He owns L & N Performance Auto Repair, Blowing Rock, NC.

We talk about supporting post-secondary education, technician training, the importance of communicating with your team, staying current with customer needs such as texting and what are his success secrets at this time in his life. Lucas is a millennial shop ower for the last 10 years. The road was not paved in gold.

THA 103: Turn Price Shopping Callers Into Customers.

Turn Phone Price Shoppers into Customers

We bring light to the service adviser/manager position as the toughest job in the company. It is very possible that your caller may not be looking for a price because they don’t know what else to ask. We talk about getting your value story told and the power of the smile among about a dozen other great lessons from this episode. It is suggested to get in your appointment making mode every time the phone rings.

On the Academy panel is Emily Sundstrom, Service Manager at Valley Auto Electric from Covington, WA and Business Coach Bill Haas, AAM from Haas Performance Consulting.

RR 392: Shop Talk 7 – The Leading Ladies

Shop Talk 7 -Leading Ladies

Judi Haglin, from Haglin Automotive, Boulder CO, Shelle Bennett, from Mike’s Kars in Gettysburg, PA and Kelli Weatherby from Accurate Automotive in Mesa, AZ.

These three ladies are members of an ATI twenty group that is called Leading Ladies. They are proud of their numbers. They are the top twenty group in performance within the ATI program. How is that for ‘strength in numbers’.

We had a really relaxed and wide open chat in the AAPEX18 Studio where we touched on the disciplines they have in their 20 group, what they believe is the secret to a successful business, finding your humility will change your world, and why the fear of sharing hold businesses back. There is plenty more especially the talk on the secret sauce.

RR 391: What Happens When a Technician Becomes a Customer for Automotive Repair.

What Happens When a Technician Becomes a Customer for Automotive Repair.

Pete Meir, Director of Training for the UBM Advanstar Automotive Group, which includes Motor Age magazine, wrote a story “When a Technician Becomes a Customer for Automotive Repair Service.” You can only imagine the implications and ramifications this implores.

When Pete needed tires for his truck he became a customer. He was not delighted with the service he was given and it drove him to write about it. He may have never written it if he had a satisfying and complete service experience. It’s tough to be in this industry and not judge your own personal experiences and standards against all others.

Training and Customer Service are the very processes that needed improvement and constant adjustment to meeting trends and everyday situations. Having this can equip a technician and service adviser in most decision making situations.